Queen of debt won't take no for an answer

Joy Seppala is one of a new breed of hedge fund chiefs who refuse to play by traditional rules. By Richard Fletcher and Dan Drillsma-Milgrom

JOY SEPPALA, chief executive of Sisu Capital, does not look like “one of London’s most ballsy traders”. A smartly dressed 44-year-old Finnish-American blonde, she likes to describe herself as an investor.

But, according to rivals, appearances are deceptive. Seppala is a force to be reckoned with. “She has balls of steel,” said one.

Seppala has a reputation for playing hardball in the distressed-debt market — demanding that companies and administrators “stand and deliver” what she believes her investors are due.

From an anonymous building in London’s Mayfair, Seppala and her 15 staff run an $800m (£460m) hedge fund that specialises in investing in troubled companies. It looks for firms whose debts are undervalued and trading at a large discount to their face value.

Sisu is one of a number of hedge funds that, having taken over company debts, are refusing to play by the traditional rules. They are making waves — resorting